Still Frame Memory
by SouthernStars
Summary: He was broken. She was hurt. They were were connected by the same thing. She made it her mission to heal him in an attempt to fill the hole that was left behind. On Hiatus.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: Whoops, another story coming along. Now I feel bad, because you're all dying to read the next chapters of DF and C&M and here I am starting something different story altogether. I swore that I wouldn't and I am. As I said in MTLFM I'm thinking of putting them both on hiatus for a little while and at the moment, it really looks like I'm going to go through with that. It's just a hard thing to do when I have no interest in the stories. This story came to me when I was walking my dog and thinking about an accident that happened to someone from my school. Again, updates are going to be infrequent starting next week because school starts up and I have no idea how much work I'm going to be getting in the first few weeks. School sucks. Seriously.

I hope you enjoy this new story of mine, simply because I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy writing it!

* * *

_**Still Frame Memory **_

**Prologue**

"_Cause I keep bleeding, keep bleeding love…_" Troy Bolton winced as Daniel Montez's voice reached a pitch that, if he had been sober, he wouldn't have been able to reach in his wildest dreams. Grinning slightly as he shifted gear, Troy glanced at his friend as he drove. Daniel was completely oblivious to anything but the screeching sound of his own voice as he belted out Leona Lewis's hit single and Troy was sure that he would soon lose interest in the song and start asking random questions about anything and everything.

Sure enough, as soon as Daniel lost his breath, the radio was turned down and Daniel turned to face him unbuckling his seatbelt as he did so.

"Hey, Dan, put your seatbelt back on." Troy said before Daniel could open his mouth and the drunken theories started pouring out. Daniel, too drunk to actually bother arguing, made a sound of agreement and buckled his seatbelt back up.

"You want to know what I think," Daniel slurred as soon as Troy was sure he was safely in the car seat and he wasn't going anywhere. Troy didn't reply, instead he waited patiently. "I think that Achmed the terrorist is the coolest person ever!" He finished and Troy raised his eyebrows, grateful for his sobriety because he knew that if he was as drunk as his friend he would have collapsed into a fit of giggles by now.

"Really? And who is Achmed?" Troy asked, slowing down as they approached the stop sign. Daniel made an incredulous sound that reminded Troy of his six month old cousin. As they came to a stop, Troy turned and examined his friend.

Daniel's sloppy smile, vague expression and cheerful demeanor was enough to clue anyone into that he'd had more than a good time at the party they had both been attending. The party, which had been left behind when Troy had spotted his friend hitting on a group of girls who were laughing hysterically at him, that had been the farewell to summer for the new seniors and the old. Daniel being one of the fare welling seniors and Troy one of the new.

"Achmed is the coolest terrorist that ever existed! He's so funny! Except for that guy that always stands next to him. He's not so funny. He just stands there." Daniel's rambling was enough for Troy to figure out who Achmed was. He vaguely remembered his friend telling him about the ventriloquist and his dead terrorist puppet on YouTube.

"Ah. Okay, I know who Achmed is." Troy said and Daniel snorted loudly, as Troy cautiously pressed on the accelerator and began to drive.

"Why wouldn't you?" Daniel asked, reminding Troy too much of his girlfriend as he spoke in what Troy was sure he thought was a condescending tone.

"I'm sorry. My bad. Hey, I have a question." Troy said, as he guided the car around a blind corner. Daniel made a groaning sound and Troy wondered if he would last until they reached his place before he threw up.

"What?" Daniel asked and Troy glanced at him, knowing he would get at least one more funny comment out of his friend before Daniel either threw up or passed out cold from the alcohol that he had consumed at the party. The alcohol, Troy thought with a wince, that could very well cover is truck.

"What did you say to that blonde chick who was laughing at you before we left?" Troy asked and Daniel let out a dramatic sigh, once again reminding Troy of his girlfriend who he was sure would be mortified at the comparison.

"Oh. I tried to hit on her and I though the line was a good one." Daniel said and Troy rolled his eyes, knowing that Daniels pick-up lines were either corny or crude.

"Really. And what was the line?" Troy asked, concentrating on the road as Daniel collapsed into a fit of giggles. Troy struggled to not laugh at the giggles that were emitting from his friends mouth, finding it hilarious that Daniel could still giggle like an eight-year old girl when he was one of the toughest guys he knew.

"I said to her, I said 'was your father a thief? Cause I think he stole the stars from heaven and put them in your eyes.' It was going to work too, until you showed up." Daniel muttered as Troy let a burst of laughter escape him. Out of all the lines his friend knew, he had to pick the corniest one when he was drunk.

"Dude, you're an idiot." Troy managed as he swallowed the rest of his laughter and thought about the story that was going to come out when Daniel was sitting in the kitchen tomorrow morning with a hang over.

Still chuckling, Troy concentrated on the road and narrowed his eyes as he saw headlights approaching. For a moment, he wondered who would be out driving at; his eyes slid to the dashboard clock before returning to the road, one o'clock in the morning and then slowed down as he watched the headlights swerve suspiciously. They didn't swerve back. Feeling his palms slowly become damp, Troy gunned the engine and swung onto the other side of the road, hoping to avoid the car that was currently heading straight for him and his friend. As soon as they were on the other side, Troy eased off the accelerator and let his truck begin to amble slowly along. As the car came closer, Troy found himself begin to get more nervous. With the intent of getting past the car as quickly as possible, he pressed down on the accelerator.

"Troy? Why are you on the wrong said of the road? Oooh, are we in Australia? They drive on the wrong side all the time!" Daniel asked his voice slowly losing the cheerfulness that had previously occupied it. Troy ignored him. Instead watching the car that was approaching much too quickly. Whether it was because of his speed or their, he wasn't sure. Just in case though, Troy once again eased off the accelerator.

"Shit." He muttered when he realized that the car was speeding out of control. Quickly, he glanced around. Looking for someway to avoid the car. His eyes swept the darkened road before returning to the looming car.

Examining it, Troy realized that while it was approaching fast, it wasn't swerving as much as it would have if the driver wasn't in control of it. Letting out a breath as he realized that they were probably going to get passed it without any hassles, Troy applied pressure to the accelerator once again. He glanced at Daniel and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his friends eyes drooping.

Looking back at the road, Troy's foot hit the brakes. Bright lights blinded him. Tires squealing deafened him. The impact broke him.

* * *

A/N: And that is the prologue. So, how was it? I'd actually really like to know what you guys thought of this, because I want to know if I made the right impact with it and while I won't beg I will say that I would really like to know what you all thought. Remember that this is a full length story, so it's not over yet. This was originally going to be a flashback and then I decided that I didn't want to do that. I've never used a prologue before, so I want to know if I got it right!


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: Right, well school starts tomorrow and it really, really sucks. Not to mention that I have hockey as soon as I get back to school. That sucks as well. As much as I love my team, its not always fun playing when all I really want is to do school work or write. Anyway, the response to the prologue was amazing! Thanks so much for giving me your thoughts I really appreciate it because as I said, I was nervous about it and I'm generally not that nervous about my stories. So, here is the new chapter to SFM. Note that I updated MTLFM before I updated this. I'm going to try and divide my time between those two and put C&M and DF on the back burner for a little while! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.

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_**Still Frame Memory **_

**Chapter One  
**

Dreams and anguish bring us together - Eugene Ionesco

_The pain was indescribable. His leg felt like it was on fire. His chest felt like it had been crushed under a hundred falling stones. He could taste blood in his mouth and didn't know where it had come from. He wasn't sure if it had come from inside him or the blood that was dripping down from his forehead. His arms felt like they had been assaulted by a hundred knives and somewhere, Troy knew that those knives were shards of glass that had been propelled into his skin._

_His eyes opened, testing. Troy realized that it didn't hurt to open them. They widened when they saw the million pieces of shattered glass. What happened? Why wasn't he waking up? His eyes flicked up and widened as he comprehended the front of his car molded to the other. This couldn't be happening, Troy thought frantically as the fire in his leg flared as he tried to move it. This wasn't happening, he panicked, Daniel was going to wake him up in a minute. Daniel!_

_Troy snapped his head around, praying that he wouldn't regret it. His neck didn't hurt and he took that as a good sign. Frantically, as he pulled his eyes away from the wreckage of the front of his car and tried desperately to ignore the pain in his chest as he searched from his friend. _

_"Daniel?" His voice rippled against the still air. Troy held his breath, praying, hoping to hear something from him and wished that the pain in his leg would stop, wished that this really was a dream. _

_The groan that came from the other side of the car gave Troy hope. Much more hope than he had allowed himself to feel ever since he'd regained consciousness. He strained his eyes in the anticipation of finding his friend. He could only just see a bent, broken shape and his breath quickened._

Troy's eyes snapped open. For a moment, he felt disorientated. Trying to figure out where he was. Trying to figure out why his ceiling was white when he swore that the ceiling in his room was blue.

The melancholy sound of a machine beeping alerted Troy to where he might be. Tentatively, unsure if his guess was correct he lowered his eyes from the white ceiling. The room was expressionless. The white that the walls had been painted with was nothing more than a pristine white, medical and cold. The blue drapes that hung at his window gave Troy the impression that someone had decided that breaking up the white would help the room. It didn't. It had the opposite affect. They looked sad and pathetic against the emotionless white. His eyes moved from the sun shining through the dull blue drapes and found the television bolted high into one corner. The television was an old one and Troy wanted to know why someone thought it had to be bolted to the ceiling. Who was going to want to steal something that old?

Pulling his attention away from the old television, Troy glanced around and found himself fascinated with the harsh looking machines that he could only assume he was hooked up too. He could only recognize one and that was the heart monitor. He'd seen one too many times on television to presume it was anything else. The others looked too complicated for him to even look at. He glanced to his left and his eyes drifted upwards, the bag at the top of the tall steel poll was connected to a tube that snaked itself down the poll. Troy's eyes followed the tube and found his eyes drawn to the needle that was joined to his arm.

He stared at it for a moment and then he saw the cuts that covered his arms. They littered his skin and Troy wondered why they weren't bandaged. He was at a hospital; shouldn't they have noticed that his arm wasn't bandaged?

Hearing a door open, Troy glanced up. Horror filling him as a nurse walked in. This was _real_, he suddenly realized. _How could this be real?_ Troy wondered as the nurse saw he was awake and her face lit up happily.

"Mr Bolton! You're awake! Wonderful. You're parents will be happy to know that you've woken up." She said beaming. Troy just stared at her silently, trying to comprehend what she was saying. He opened his mouth to speak when she suddenly spoke again.

"Oh. How silly of me! Your mouth must be dry! Here." Troy shut his mouth and watched her as she bustled over to the sink that he hadn't noticed before and filled a cup with water. She was a plump woman, her dark hair wisped with gray and her face gently lined. She seemed so motherly as she bustled back over to him.

"Here we go Mr Bolton. Just raise your head, a little bit," she encouraged and Troy had no choice but to obey. "Good. Here, take a sip." Troy was faintly annoyed at himself for seeming weak as she took a sip of the water that she offered him. Immediately, he felt better. The water ran through his parched mouth and cooled the burning desert it seemed to be as he took another, longer sip.

"Good. Now, I need go and tell your parents and alert your doctor." She said, placing the cup back on to a table next to him. Troy stared at her for a moment.

"W-what happened?" His voice sound strange to his ears. It was only a strangled, weak sound different from what his voice usually sounded like. She gazed at him sympathetically and Troy noticed her nametag read Barbara. It suited her for some reason and Troy wasn't sure why as she patted the leg that wasn't covered in a cast.

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you dear, why don't you wait until your parents come in?" Barbara asked kindly and Troy felt like he was being patronized as he nodded resentfully and she shot him one more sympathetic look before exiting the room.

As soon as she left, Troy realized that he was hurting. He'd been paying to much attention to the hospital room to realize that his chest ached. The pain in his leg, while not a blistering fire anymore, seemed to be more of a caged animal pacing, waiting for the chance to pounce when he left the door open in a moment of vulnerability. His could no longer taste blood in his mouth and carefully, Troy raised his hand and touched his forehead, feeling for the gash that he was sure had been there. His fingers met gauze and Troy frowned, hoping that his head hadn't been bandaged. Absently, his hand lowered from his face and ran it up his arm, feeling the remnants of the tiny knives that he was sure had been lodged in there for too long.

Glancing at the window again, Troy wondered what day it was as he gazed at the tree tops that he could just see from his window. He wondered if school had started yet.

"Troy!" His head jerked around at the tearful, joyful declaration that had burst from his mother's mouth. As soon as he recognized her, Troy felt relief somewhere deep inside. He remembered them. His memory wasn't as broken as the rest of him.

"Mom. Dad." He frowned as he greeted his parents, wondering why his voice still sounded so shoddy and then didn't worry about it as he was engulfed in a warm hug that he normally would have tried to fight.

"We were so worried! Y-you've been out f-for so long." His mother sobbed against his neck and Troy shot his father a quizzical look as he patted his mothers back awkwardly. Jack Bolton shrugged and then touched a hand to his wife's back.

"Mandy, let him go." Jack said gently and Troy took in a deep, exaggerated breath when his mother let go of him. One that he was sure would get a laugh out of his sobbing mother and instead made her cry harder than she had been before.

"D-don't do that! Y-you nearly died!" She said, her voice lacking any animosity as Jack swallowed a chuckle. Troy stared at his mother as her words sunk in. He hadn't nearly died, had he?

"How long have I been out?" He asked and felt grateful when his mother handed him the water that had been just out of reach before. His throat was amazingly dry and Troy gulped the liquid as if it was his lifeline.

"A week. You were in a coma for a week and the doctors said that you m-might not make it the first couple of days." Amanda Bolton said, hiccoughing slightly in the middle as she fought back a new batch of tears as she remembered the doctor telling them there was a possibility that he might die.

"A-a week? You're kidding me!" Troy stared at his parents, completely shocked at the thought of lying in a bed for a week without any movement.

"Afraid not." Jack said and Troy's eyes darted between his parents, trying to comprehend that he had missed the start of school.

"B-but…school?" He asked feebly and Jack looked at him sympathetically, as Mandy touched the back of his hand comfortingly.

"Started. You couldn't help it." Jack said and Troy gazed wordlessly at his father before staring down at the crisp white sheets that he was currently lying on. Silence wrapped itself around the three of them as his parents waited for him to speak. For a moment Troy was lost for words, unable to speak until he remembered the very first question out of his mouth.

"What happened?" He asked. He raised his eyes from the sheets and digested the shocked looks on his parent's faces. He waited patiently as they exchanged a look, one that meant that they were unsure what to say to him when someone else walked into the room.

Troy turned his attention from his stunned parents to the man that he knew as his family doctor. Dr George Conroy was a tall, thin man whose twinkling, kind eyes gave away the serious set of his face. Troy had known him his entire life and felt some relief at seeing someone who wasn't going to cry or get upset in his presence.

"Troy, you're awake. That's wonderful. Why do you two look so shocked?" George looked at his parents curiously, his eyes sliding from one to the other before looking back at Troy, who shrugged.

"Ah…he wants to know what happened," Jack cleared his throat nervously as Troy watched his doctors eyes darken slightly.

"Oh. Well, Jack, Mandy, would you be so kind as to wait outside while I examine Troy? I'm sure Barbara will get you some coffee." George said firmly and Troy didn't say anything as he offered his parents a thin smile and they nodded slowly. Troy winced slightly when Mandy squeezed his hand hard before dropping it and following her husband out of the room.

Troy waited until his parents were out of the room before he spoke to his doctor, taking a large sip of water before he did so.

"So…what happened to me?" He asked calmly and then wondered why his doctor sighed and settled himself down into the seat that sat beside his bed.

"Are you sure you want to hear it from me, Troy? Wouldn't you rather your parents tell you what happened?" George asked seriously and Troy tried to ignore the sinking pit in his stomach at the look on the doctor's line face.

"No. I don't want my parents to tell me." Troy said firmly, fighting the rise of his pulse as his doctor nodded and readjusted the glasses that sat on the tip of his nose.

"About a week ago, you were in a car crash Troy. From what I gathered from your parents, you'd been at a party and were driving home with one of your friends, Daniel. According to the police, you swerved to the other side of the road to avoid a head on collision with a car that that was on the wrong side of the road and the car, instead of driving on like it should have, swerved back onto the side you were on, accelerated and hit you head on. I'm told the driver was going rather fast, sixty maybe seventy miles an hour." Troy felt his throat closing as he stared at the doctor. He could remember the lights. He could remember how bright they were. He nodded slowly, letting George know that he had to continue.

"You were very lucky. No-one is quite sure how you survived. You should have been killed as soon as there was impact. The police suggested that your airbag activated before the car front folded and pushed you back into the driver's seat. Anyhow, you arrived here a week ago. Your right leg was shattered, your ribs had been broken thanks to the force of the impact and one of them had pricked your lung, you hit your head and obtained the gash that it currently upon it. Your body was also embedded with glass. Most of which we have managed to get out." Troy stared at his doctor, once again raising an absent hand to brush over his arm, feeling the roughness of the scabs that ran along it.

"Anything else?" He asked slowly, his mind still trying to comprehend what was going on. George nodded and Troy could tell that he was unsure whether or not to continue. After a moment of deliberation, he did.

"Yes. You've been in a coma for a week because of the force that hit your head; it seemed your head hit the steering wheel and then the headrest. You were unconscious when you came in," there was more. Troy could tell there was more as Dr Conroy paused.

"What happened to Daniel?" Troy asked, suddenly remembering the dream that he'd been having and prompting the doctor along.

"Daniel…Daniel sustained serious head injuries Troy. His seatbelt wasn't done up properly and because he was sleepy, he was thrown around more than you were. He…he had passed on by the time the ambulance reached the scene." Troy's world froze as he stared at the doctor. His mind memorized the controlled grief on his doctor's line face; he memorized the dark eyes that held pain for him and the loss of a young life. His chest began to ache again, this time not specifically where it had been aching before but somewhere deeper, somewhere much more intimate.

"Oh." The single word held so much numbed pain that George stared at his young patient, wishing that there was a drug that could take away the pain he knew that Troy hadn't begun to feel.

Troy moved his eyes from the doctors aged face and once again took in the room he had woken up in. How come it could look so different, yet exactly the same? The white still looked medical and cold but it didn't. The blue drapes that hung at the window still looked pitiful but then, they didn't. Troy's eyes moved up to the television bolted to the corner and wondered why it didn't seem that old anymore. Swallowing hard, Troy looked back at his doctor, who was watching him carefully.

"Troy? Are you alright?" George asked, carefully eyeing his young patient who simply nodded and met his eyes. Troy wondered why the doctor recoiled slightly and didn't realize that the doctor could only see a deep, blue void in his eyes.

"Yeah. I think so." Troy nodded and suddenly felt very tired. He fought the tiredness, not willing to let the Dr Conroy know how quickly he'd become exhausted.

"Well, a young Mr Danforth and Miss Evans had been coming to see you. They've both been in here every day and should be here this afternoon." Troy's eyes slid to the door as if expecting his best friend, Chad Danforth and his girlfriend, Sharpay Evans to prance through the doors, arguing the way they usually did when he wasn't around.

"Okay. Anyone else?" Troy asked unaware that tiredness was creeping into his voice as George smiled at him gently.

"Plenty. There have been quite a few people here to see you. Most of them from your school. In fact, I'll tell the nurse station that they're allowed to bring in all the things that have been sent to you in the past week," Dr Conroy said and Troy nodded, settling back against his pillowed more comfortably, forgetting that he didn't want his doctor to know that he was tired.

"That's nice. Did you want to do a check-up?" Troy asked, struggling to stay awake as he realized that George had stood up and was smiling down at him much like a grandfather smiling at a favorite grandson.

"No. I'll wait until you're a little bit less tired." George asked and Troy nodded, his eyes drooping closed. He was almost asleep when another, more pressing question came to him. Forcing his eyes open, Troy saw that George was nearly at the door and spoke quietly.

"Will I feel something soon?" He asked and Dr Conroy turned back around, knowing that Troy wasn't speaking about any physical pain but a pain that was only known to those who had experienced something like this. He smiled kindly at his patient and nodded.

"You will." George said and Troy wanted to ask one more question, instead he closed his eyes for a moment, just a moment and was asleep before he could think about the pain that he had yet to experience.

* * *

On the other side of Albuquerque, Gabriella Montez rolled over onto her side, waking from a nightmare that once had been a dream. A dream that involved her and her brother playing when they were younger. Much younger than she was now. Closing her eyes briefly, Gabriella tried to pretend that the dream wasn't real and that it was simply a figment of her imagination that wanted her to believe that she had a sibling. A living, breathing sibling. She tried to pretend that she was an only child who could only dream up a very real looking older brother.

She knew that she was kidding herself.

The dream, the memory of her brother throwing sand at her, was her minds attempt at torturing her. It was an attempt at getting her to feel something more than a hollowness that made no sense to her. Since when did you feel nothing when someone you love died? Though she knew that Hollywood was not always accurate, Gabriella had thought that perhaps they'd gotten it right when the characters broke down in sobs upon learning of the demise of another, much loved character. Apparently, Hollywood couldn't get anything right.

She hadn't broken. She hadn't even _felt_. She'd just stared. Stared at the cream carpet of her living room as the police apologized over and over to her stunned parents. She didn't know why they were apologizing either. Was it their fault that someone had crashed into the car her brother was in? Was it their fault that someone hadn't known what had happened and they hadn't arrived at the scene until too late? Honestly, if they hadn't arrived when they had, Troy Bolton probably would be dead now too. Couldn't they see that while they hadn't been able to save her brother, they had managed to save someone else, who was as important as a family member?

Though she didn't want to acknowledge it, the thought of losing Troy made her stomach queasy and Gabriella wasn't sure why.

Opening her eyes, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy of her bed which hadn't looked the same since she had found out. Faintly, she heard the front door to her house open and then closed and she could only assume that it was her father arriving back from work. He was always coming home early these days, whether it was for her mother or because he couldn't handle the work, Gabriella didn't know.

Sighing, she rolled back over onto her side and strained to hear the voices of her parents. Though they weren't speaking loudly, Gabriella found that she could make out what they were saying easily. There was no rock music pounding through the house as there should have been, instead there was a painful silence that was too much of a reminder of what had happened. Pushing away the thought, Gabriella concentrated on what her parents were saying.

"...Jack rang while I was at work. He said that Troy had woken up." Gabriella's eyes widened at her father's words. Troy was awake? Since when?

"Really? Is he alright?" Her mother asked and Gabriella sat up, straining to hear what her father was saying as he replied to the question.

"Jack said that he didn't know what had happened. He asked the doctor to tell him instead of his parents. Apparently he was asleep when the doctor let them see him again." Gabriella stared down at her own cream carpet as she processed the words. Troy couldn't remember what had happened? For some reason, the piece of information surprised Gabriella. She had thought that Troy would remember it or at least, not ask about it.

"Should we go and see him?" Gabriella stiffened at her mothers question. She had no idea why she would ask that and sound so unsure about it.

Silence followed the question and Gabriella wondered why her father was thinking about it so hard. What was there to think about, really?

"No. I don't think we should." Gabriella took in a sharp breath at her father's words. Why wouldn't they go and see Troy? Were they really going to avoid him? Flopping back down onto her bed, Gabriella made a decision. One that she wasn't sure she should make.

If her parents weren't going to go and see Troy, then she would.

* * *

A/N: And that is the chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Some of you didn't pick up, also before you have a go at me not putting in any of the pain Troy should have been feeling, think about it. Would you really feel something that quickly when you're still trying to process what happened?


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: I want to thank everyone for their reviews so far! I realize that this story may be a touchy subject for a few people and I hope that at some point I do it justice! Anyway, I want to clear something up before you all delve into the next chapter. In the prologue when I mentioned Troy's girlfriend, I never actually said that it was Gabriella; I just said he had one! So I hope none of you were too confused by that because I didn't realize the story was that confusing! Before you all ask, yes it is a Troy/Gabriella story! I do feel slightly weird writing Troy/Sharpay too but that's how the cookie crumbles!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter and MTLFM should be up soon as well!

* * *

_**Still Frame Memory **_

**Chapter Two**

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives - Albert Schweitzer

He hadn't dreamt.

Troy wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that he hadn't dreamt about the accident and he knew that he didn't want to find out. The thought of remembering what had happened before the ambulance and the police had arrived at the scene made him nervous for a reason that Troy wasn't sure he understood. He could only assume there was a reason that he didn't remember what had gone on in that short period of time between the impact and the arrivals and that reason was something Troy didn't want to remember at all.

At least, he was sure that the reason he couldn't remember was why he didn't want to remember.

Wanting to groan and then realizing that maybe it wasn't a good idea to, Troy turned his head to look out the window. The sun was lower in the sky now and Troy could only assume that it was approaching late afternoon as he watched a school girl skip up the path towards the entrance of the hospital. As he watched her, he wondered how she could look so happy when the place she was visiting was so clinical and depressing. Even though he was in a private room and he wasn't surrounded by anyone else, Troy understood the suffering that occurred within it. From cancer patients through to day patients, he was aware of the pain that they all went through. He was somewhat surprised that he had been there for only a day and yet, he could understand something like that.

Troy watched the girl curiously as she came to a stop just before he would have lost sight of her and motioned for the person she was in front of to hurry up. Troy's attention switched from the little girl to the person following her and he took in a sharp breath at the sight of the tall, dark haired man that was following her and grinning slightly. It was a normal, warm sight and Troy couldn't understand why his chest tightened at it. He couldn't understand why his thoughts immediately turned to –

"Troy?" The sound of Barbara's voice had him jerking his eyes away from the father and daughter and to his doorway, where she stood looking at him kindly.

"Uh…yeah?" He asked, coughing slightly as she continued to look at him sympathetically. He didn't know why she was looking at him like that and had been completely unaware that when Barbara had walked into the room, she had been struck by the sadness of the picture he had made staring out the window, broken nearly beyond repair but still whole. It was a paradox that she didn't wish upon anyone.

"You have some visitors." She said quietly and Troy nodded, glancing around the room and hoping that they didn't bring presents

His room, while he had been asleep, had been brightened considerably by the array of flowers that had been sent to him during the week he had been in a coma. The emotionless white was now a simple backdrop against the bright colors that made up the flowers. Even brighter than the flowers were dozens of get well cards that were from family members and school friends, some of which he knew others he didn't, they stood proudly in front of the flowers and upon waking up a little over thirty minutes ago, Troy had wished for the clinically emotionless room he had originally woken up too. The bright, cheerful colors were beginning to be too much to handle.

"Well it's about time you woke up!" Startled, Troy glanced up from his expressionless examination of the colors and looked even more surprised as he drank in the sight of Chad Danforth.

Chad stood in the middle of the doorway, where Barbara had been only seconds before, wearing a bright smile and a shirt that was as loud and obscene as his personality. The shirt was one that Troy had seen before and had laughed at, now he only stared at it, almost thoughtfully Troy reacquainted himself with Chad's gleaming face and cheerful brown eyes.

"Hi Chad." He said and was surprised when Chad's face dropped slightly at his greeting. He wondered why his friends face had dropped and then raised his eyebrows when Chad suddenly stumbled forward and a blonde blur flew into the room.

"Baby! We t-thought you were dead!" Troy let out a loud yelp as Sharpay Evans launched herself onto his aching chest and clung tightly to his neck. He sent a pleading look to Chad as Sharpay sobbed into his chest, who shrugged helplessly.

"Sharpay…your hurting me!" Troy hadn't realized how loud he'd yelled until Barbara stepped through the doorway and her face became tight at the sight of the sobbing girl on a patient.

"Young lady, I will have to ask you to remove yourself from Troy. He broke his ribs and at the moment you are certainly going to make it worse." Barbara's frosty words had Sharpay jerking away from his and Troy stared at it.

Tearstains ran down her cheeks as she sniffled and Troy's eyes swept over the ruined make-up and knew that it said a lot about Sharpay's personality. For a moment, one heartless moment, Troy wondered if his girlfriend of two years was just putting her acting skills to use and playing the part of the distressed girlfriend. The moment he'd thought it, Troy pushed it away, feeling guilty that he'd even thought about something like that.

"S-sorry. Its just t-that-" Chad cut Sharpay off as he settled himself into the hard plastic seat that the hospital offered to visitors.

"We all thought you were dead. You've been out for a week, Troy. It's been a while." Chad said and all Troy could do was nod as he allowed Sharpay to lace their fingers together and hold onto his hand for dear life, reminding Troy of his mother.

"Well I'm not." The bland statement had Chad blinking and Sharpay's tears flowing again. This time Troy could only assume that it was out of relief and not distress.

"And thank god for that! You have no idea how worried we all were Troy. When your mom rang me up the morning after and told me what had happened, I freaked." Sharpay said and Troy nodded, glancing once again out the window and sighing softly when he saw that the father and daughter he had seen before had gone, no doubt seeing the mother that completed the trio.

"Oh. You were still at the party right?" Sharpay gave Troy an odd look as he asked the question. It was almost disbelieving but she quickly rearranged her features to appear sympathetic rather than incredulous.

"Uh-huh. Don't you remember? I told you I was going to stay so you only had to deal with one drunk instead of two." Troy winced slightly at the mention of the other person who he had been responsible for that night. He noticed the way Sharpay and Chad exchanged a glance of worry at his reaction to even an allusion to Daniel and wondered if he should call them out for it and then thought better of it.

"Sorry. I don't. How's school been?" The deliberate change in subject should have been a signal for both Chad and Sharpay to leave the subject of that night alone. Instead, Sharpay pressed on, whether or not she got the hint Troy didn't know.

"You've got to remember something. It's not like its something that you forget," Sharpay said, ignoring Chad's warning hiss. "I mean, your mom said that you were conscious when the ambulance arrived and your doctor said that you shouldn't have a loss of memory or anything-"

She was cut off harshly by Chad, who was watching as Troy's face grew blanker and blanker, what little emotion he had displayed when they had arrived disappearing as Sharpay rambled.

"Sharpay shut the hell up." He snapped and Troy shifted as Sharpay turned to glare at Chad. "Schools been okay. Everyone was pretty shocked when we heard what had happened. Matsui actually held an assembly as a way of telling everyone what had happened." Troy wasn't sure if he felt grateful or not for Chad answering his question. In fact, Troy wasn't altogether sure he wanted to see Sharpay and Chad at all. He wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with people who wanted to talk about it. Something Sharpay obviously wanted to do, badly.

"Oh. What'd he say during it?" Troy asked, turning his face away from Sharpay and concentrating on Chad, who shrugged at the question.

"Not much. Just that you and Dan had been in accident and well…you know," Chad said cautiously and when Troy didn't react, he continued, "and how we should all be respectful of you when you came back and then he had both the juniors and the seniors stay back. We had the counselor sprout some bullshit about how it's alright to grieve and it's only natural. Then Matsui got up again and told us that no matter what, we were to be kind and respectful to Gabriella Montez. Because she lost someone as well and would be feeling it more than any of us." Chad said and Troy felt something inside him wrench. Gabriella. Gabriella Montez. Daniels sister. Daniel's much loved sister.

"Troy? Are you alright?" Sharpay's worried voice broke through his thoughts and Troy looked at her. Slowly, he nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah. Fine." He nodded hastily and chose to ignore the look that Sharpay sent him. One that told him she didn't believe him at all.

"Anyway, that's how that went down and then we all went to class. Jason asked the dumbest question and all tension was broken. It was easier laughing than thinking." The thought was a deep one and Troy knew that if he didn't know Chad as well as he did he would have never believed it had come from the boy with the ready smile and easy manner. Instead of questioning Chad, he nodded, accepting the comment for a statement of the truth instead of something that was unexpected.

"Only Jason could do that. What else has been going on?" Troy asked and Chad shrugged, glancing at Sharpay who took it as her cue to speak.

"Not much believe it or not. Darbus' has got it in her head that she wants to do 'The Wizard of Oz' for the musical and Ryan and I are trying desperately to convince her that it's more than a really bad idea," Troy nodded, his mind clicking slightly at the mention of her twin brother and his homeroom teacher.

"No sparkles in that ay, Shar?" Chad quipped and hoped for at least a grin from Troy. His stomach dropped when a small, amused smile passed across Troy's lips as Sharpay huffed and played with his fingers.

"That's not the point Danforth. The point is I doubt anyone we have would be good enough to play Dorothy and a live dog in the theatre? Dream on." Sharpay scoffed and Troy frowned at her, narrowing one eye as he thought about what she'd said.

"Don't you take your dog to theatre anyway?" He asked and Sharpay let out an exaggerated breath that triggered something in Troy he chose to ignore.

"So not the point Troy! Ryan and I are actually thinking 'Mama Mia!' but its going to take a little convincing before Darbus agrees." Sharpay said. Chad coughed slightly and Troy had a feeling he was trying to cover a laugh at what Troy was sure were his thoughts on how 'gay' 'Mama Mia!' was.

"Sharpay, how many people from the drama club who aren't gay will willingly become involved in something like 'Mama Mia!'?" Chad asked obnoxiously and Troy snorted slightly at his question, finding it a rather good point as Sharpay pouted.

"Meryl Streep did it! So did Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and heaps of other people!" Sharpay defended the choice of musical as Chad and Troy exchanged an amused glance that had Chad's stomach rising slightly as he felt some normality within what was happening at the current moment.

"Sure Sharpay and they're all grown men, comfortable with their sexuality and don't see 'Mamma Mia!' as a way of coming out." Troy replied and Chad was the one who snorted this time. Sharpay rolled her eyes, apparently at the immaturity of the boys and Chad and Troy once again exchanged a glance.

Silence slowly fell over the room and Troy found himself falling out of the façade of normality which he had found himself in as Sharpay had spoken. Glancing around the room again, Troy found his mind returning to Gabriella. How had he forgotten she had existed? He wondered, he had been awake and alert for nearly two days and yet, he had never once thought about the Montez family. What did that make him? Did it make him a horrible person for not even thinking about someone else? Or was he avoiding thinking about them because he hadn't even begun to suffer yet?

Troy sighed and then glanced at the doorway when he heard a quite knock echo through the silence that had been left after they had stopped speaking.

"Barbara. Why are you here?" Troy asked and she once again smiled kindly at him before speaking.

"There's a young lady here to see you Troy." She said and before Troy could respond, Barbara had once again disappeared and this time was replaced with someone who Troy hadn't expected to see. Ever.

His eyes swept over the tumbling brown curls, nervous brown eyes and whitening lip as his breath caught in his throat.

"Gabriella." He choked out and watched as she jumped slightly at her name. Her eyes swung from the flowers to him and Troy watched as she blanched slightly before releasing her lip and speaking.

"Hi." She said softly and Troy struggled to sit up straighter as she took another step into the room and silence once again fell over them.

* * *

They had gotten out of there as soon as they could. Not only had it felt completely awkward to be around Troy while he was awake, neither of them had known what to do when Gabriella had walked into the room. Escape had seemed like a damn good option when silence had once again fallen over them.

Sharpay walked beside Chad silently, her heels clicking on the marble floors of the hospital reception as they silently made their way to the car park. As they stepped out into the warm afternoon air, she turned to look at him, wanting to at least hear his thoughts on what had happened within the room they had left only minutes before.

Chad seemed to sense what she wanted to speak about and raised his hand as a way of telling her not to talk.

"I told you it would be weird." He said quietly and Sharpay wrapped her arms around herself and nodded in assent.

"I know. I just didn't think that it would be that weird. He's so…different." Sharpay said and Chad let out a harsh, cynical laugh that Sharpay cringed at.

"What'd you expect Shar? That he would still be Troy? He was in a car accident that not only messed him up badly but killed one of his best friends. I think we're lucky he was even speaking to us." Chad said and Sharpay winced slightly at his words. Knowing that he was right in saying that but unwilling to acknowledge it.

"Why do you think that?" She asked quietly and Chad shrugged, looking from the blonde in front of him to the lined cars that sat opposite them. He wasn't sure Sharpay was equipped to deal with Troy anymore than he was at the moment and then sighed. She might as well know what he was thinking before somebody else spat it out.

"Because Troy's been known to shut people out completely when something bad happens to him and this is worse than bad, Shar, this is worse than worse. What happened to him…is something that I doubt any of us can actually imagine enduring. So for us to go in there and actually be able to get him to speak is something we should be grateful for." Chad said and then wished he hadn't when Sharpay let out a soft sob at his words.

Because they'd been comforting each other ever since they'd both found out, Chad didn't hesitate to pull Sharpay into a hug. Rubbing her back soothingly as she sobbed against his chest.

"H-he's so different. I-I want the o-old Troy b-back." She sobbed against his chest and Chad sighed, biting his lip and trying to push away any cynicism. For a moment, he wondered how Sharpay was going to survive being Troy's girlfriend for the next couple of months if she was breaking down after being in a hospital room with him for less than twenty minutes.

"I know Shar." Chad sighed and Sharpay's sobs ceased slightly at his low voice. They stood there as she calmed herself even more and Chad waited for her to speak again before he pulled away.

"Its like something inside him died." She whispered mournfully. Chad squeezed his eyes shut at her words, her words were a painful acknowledgement of something that neither of them had wanted to think about while Troy had lain in a coma.

They'd both wanted to old Troy back instead they had received someone who was dead almost as much as he was alive.

* * *

A/N: Damn. It's sad isn't it? Anyway, who wants to kill me because Gabriella walked into the room, yet you all have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next? Because I hope that's your reaction. It seemed a bit…awkward when I wrote it. Anyway, the next chapter of MTLFM should be up in the next couple of days so I hope you enjoyed it and as I mentioned in the prologue, I would love to hear your thoughts because this isn't an easy subject to write about and I would love to know how I'm going with it!


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